Rebirth, Chapter One- Red Stars Rising
The ancient prophecies of the Mata Kaita told that when the new times arrived, and the old world was once again whole, that new Toa would be brought forth from the Matoran of ages, and the Red Star would divide. These prophecies have come true... Ignika Beach Tahu, once a great Toa of Fire, now a humble Turaga elder, sat on the beach, where, many years ago, he had held the great Ignika in his hand, and preached to the masses that Mata Nui would return one day. Now, he came to collect the great Mask of Life, so that he and the other Turaga and Turaga Nuva could complete their destiny, their destiny of healing the Great Spirit. The Suva Mata Turaga Tahu arrived at the Suva Mata, literally translating as the Shrine of Spirits, carrying the now almost-powerless Kanohi Ignika, the Legendary Mask of Life which held the dying spirit of the Great Spirit Mata Nui. Holding the mask above his head, Tahu ran toward the Suva, so as to herald the arrival of the Ignika. "Brothers! Sisters!" cried Tahu, struggling to be heard with such a weak voice as he had now, "I have the Ignika! Mata Nui shall be awakened this day!" The other Turaga and Turaga Nuva gathered around the Suva Mata, readying their tools to be inserted into the shrine. As Tahu came closer to the Suva, the other Turaga began to place their tools into the shrine, beginning with the once Toa Metru, Turaga Nokama. By the time Tahu had arrived at the Suva Mata, all of the other Turaga, save Lesovikk, who was too ill to contribute, had placed all of their tools into the great shrine. "Tahu!" cried Turaga Lewa, holding out Lesovikk's Tree Staff for Tahu to place into the Suva, "Take this, and place it into Lesovikk's receptacle, he wanted you to that for him." "Why can he not do it himself?" Tahu asked, now holding the Ignika under his arm. "He has been stricken with the Leech Flu," answered Turaga Norik, his voice still strong and wise as ever, "we doubt that he will survive, but we are helping him. Hewkii is mixing the thornax soup as we speak, but it may not be finished in time." Tahu, distraught at this news, carried Lesovikk's Staff to his receptacle on the Suva, and placed it in. Next, he brought his Magma Knife to his spot on the Suva, and placed it in with a last heave, and began his way up the great shrine. As he came closer to the top of the Shrine, Tahu felt the Ignika burn with the fury of life, anxious to live again, or so the Turaga thought. Holding the mask over the bright spire of yellow light, Tahu let the mask free of his hands, and let it float in the light. Then, to his amazement, the great mask began to return from it's silvery state into a bright gold. Then, as all of the Turaga watched in amazement, the mask cracked and shattered into shards of aurodermis, the material used for all Legendary Masks. Once again, the Turaga felt hopeless, seeing the mask that could well have been their salvation from the new monsters the Forest of Teridax was spewing forth, was now shattered upon the ground. "NO!" Shouted Vakama, startled at what he had just witnessed, "What happened? Wha-what went wrong? The Suva was perfectly built! How?" "Maybe that was what it was supposed to do..." Nuva Onu-Kini "H'kija! Come quick!" H'kija, a Ne-Uno-Matoran, had been meditating in Nuva Mata Nui's newest temple, Nuva Onu-Kini, a great hall formed of dermic metals, stone and Biikohl crystals, when his thoughts had been interrupted by the echoes of Av-Ta-Matoran Centapik, a rambunctious matoran with no visible sense of self-preservation, as seen by his multiple, and successful attempts at cheating death. "Centapik," H'kija answered, an undertone of irritation in his voice, "what is so important that you need to interrupt my meditations?" "Look up, dude." panted Centapik, out of breath from running from the Suva Mata to the temple, "Look the Vezon up..." H'kija raised his head to look through the great temple's skylight, and to his amazement, saw not just one, but seven Red Stars. He ran to the other side of the room to grab his spyglass, so as to make sure he wasn't mistaken. He wasn't. There they hung, seven Red Stars, each one as bright and glorious as the first. "I-I-It can't be..." he said in awe of the spectacle he saw above him, "How?" "And that's not all," replied Centapik, who was still struggling to catch his breath, "one of the Turaga said the Ignika's been shattered..." Suva Mata "By the Great Spirit..." whispered H'kija, barely loud enough to hear. The spectacle that stood before him was like nothing no matoran had ever seen. Seven glowing images of great Kanohi were sprawled across the night sky, each one different from the another. Six images of great masks, circling around that of an Ignika, were swirling, dancing through the sky. "Amazing, innit?" said Sarda, a Ta-Matoran maskmaker, "Happened just a couple a' minutes ago. You shoulda seen Idris' face when shje saw it! Legit, her mask was about to fall off!" "How'd it happen?" asked H'kija, his eyes still upon the spinning formation of masks. "The Ignika would've done it." said Kazi, a Ko-Matoran notorious for his ability to foresee events large and small, with no apparent rhyme or reason to it. "I saw it in a dream last night, if I told anyone I might've messed up the future." "You knew this would happen?!" shouted H'kija, confused and angry at Kazi's inability to tell anyone of what he had forseen, "You knew this would happen, and yet, you told no-one that the last Legendary Mask in existence was going to be destroyed?! AW COME ON, MAN!!!" "There's no need to shout, Fuser." retorted Kazi. "Fuser?!" said H'kija, "Did you just call me a FUSER?!" H'kija tackled the Ko-Matoran, and proceeded to beat the mask off of him. "STOP!" cried Tahu, his voice alone separating the two matoran. "You four need to come with me..." Nuva Ga-Koro When the matoran and their Turaga guide arrived at Lesovikk's home in Nuva Ga-Koro, the New Village of Water, they were surprised by what they saw. Strange, metal objects hung from the ceiling, most with some sort of wire hanging off of them, and several of them with brightly coloured fluid flowing through them. Off to the left of the hut, Toa Hewkii was attempting to repair a hole in the leaf build of the makeshift home. "Lesovikk," whispered Tahu, "You have visitors." The four matoran stepped into the room, each taking a moment to take in their surroundings. "This," continued Tahu, "is H'kija, the matoran Nokama said you asked for." "Yes," wheezed Lesovikk, barely audible, "yes he is." "Turaga Lesovikk," answered H'kija, kneeling on one knee as a sign of respect, "I beg forgiveness for my ignorance, but if I may be so foolish as to ask, why have you summoned us?" "Ne-Matoran," grumbled Lesovikk, "always so eager to please. Heh. Anyways, I only summoned you, H'kija, I don't know what these three are here for. By the way, what are you here for?" "Muh-uh," muttered Sarda, shrugging, "Tahu just told us to follow him, that's all he said." "I was told that you had the Toa Stones," Tahu said. "Now," asked Lesovikk, "who told you that?" "Turaga Lewa," answered Tahu, "He told me- Oh. Right. Lewa." "Wait," questioned Centapik, "Toa Stones? Does that mean-" "Yes," wheezed Lesovikk, followed by several coughs, "I wished H'kija would become the first of the new Toa team." TO BE CONTINUED Category:Stories